Why JavaScript Matters

JavaScript has been shunned by the academic community because of its many obvious shortcomings. But it includes the best features of Scheme and Self, making it a language deserving of study and research. It was the first lambda language to go mainstream. It is a language with amazing ubiquity and expressive power.

Douglas Crockford is a senior JavaScript Architect at Yahoo! He is well known for his work in introducing JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). He has also worked on the computerization of media at Atari, Lucasfilm, and Paramount. Crockford was the founder and CEO of Electric Communities from 1993 to 2001, and the founder and CTO of State Software (also known as Veil Networks) from 2001 to 2002. Crockford is the author of JavaScript: The Good Parts ISBN 978-0596517748.